Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even better than the Champelrose is the 2013 Cornas Sabarotte, which comes from the estate’s 1.5 hectare in the la Sabarotte lieu-dit, which lies just across the valley (and a little to the south) of the Reynard lieu-dit. This is prime terroir composed of pure granite soils. Seeing a long four-week maceration, it sees malolactic in barrel and spends 16 months in new French oak barrels (which is rare in Cornas). Despite the aging, you wouldn't know it by tasting the wine as it offers sensational notes of black and blue fruits, caramelized meats, crushed rock and pepper, with almost no noticeable oak. Full-bodied, forward, beautifully textured and layered, it’s a huge success in the vintage and is a gorgeous wine that savvy readers should snatch up. It will have 15 or more years of overall longevity.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Distinguished as a fine Syrah producing zone since the 18th century, Cornas, like Cote Rotie, is made up of vineyards covering steep and hard-to-work, granite terraces. As a result the region’s wines fell out of favor during the mid 20th century when the global market was more focused on bulk wines and vineyards that yielded high quantities. It wasn’t until the 1980s when a group of energetic young winemakers reestablished the integrity of these precipitous terraces and also began making an ultra-modern style of Syrah. The new style didn’t need a decade before it was drinkable and could reach the consumer faster than the region’s traditional wines. Given the new quality coming out of the zone, its popularity once again soared and today a good Cornas can easily challenge many of those from Hermitage. Characteristics of Syrah from Cornas include teeth-staining flavors of blackberry jam, plum, pepper, violets, smoked game, charcoal, chalk dust and smoke.